Published on: 24 July 2023 at 18:25 IST
Court: High Court of Delhi
Citation: Sharafat Sheikh V. Union of India (2022)
Honourable High Court of Delhi has held that the detaining authority was under an obligation to communicate to the detenue the grounds of detention effectively and fully in a language which is understood by him/her. The Detaining Authority even has to entails the translation of the grounds to the language known to the detenue as per the Constitutional Mandate under the aegis of Article 22 of the Constitution of India. Hence, as a matter of settled law that even the documents “Relied Upon” in the grounds of detention must be supplied to the detenue, translated into a language as understood by the detenue.
33. Where a detenue is illiterate, it has been held by the Hon’ble Supreme Court that the mandate of Article 22(5) would be served only if the grounds of detention are explained to the detenue in a language that he understands, so as to enable him to avail the fundamental right of making an effective representation.
34. In our considered view, keeping in mind the constitutional mandate of Article 22(5) as well as a plethora of the Hon’ble Supreme Court decisions as also the decision of this Court in Jasvinder Kaur v. Union of India (W.P.(Crl) 1388/2021 decided on 18.02.2022, emphasizing the necessity of furnishing the grounds of detention to the detenue in a language he understands. It is pointed out that the mere signing of documents in English does not automatically translate to the detenue having a working knowledge of English so as to fulfill the mandate of Article 22(5).
Drafted By Abhijit Mishra
